Diamond in the Rough
by raspberriesandrum
Summary: [Aladdin meets D. Gray-man.] When Prince Kanda leaves home to avoid an arranged marriage he doesn't expect to be rescued by a white-haired street rat. YullenArekan. Slash.
1. Prologue: Treasure in the Sand

**The Diamond in the Rough**

**Prologue: The Treasure in the Sand**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own D. Gray-man or Disney's Aladdin. Anything you recognize is a direct transcript from the movie.

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Just outside the walls of the Black City a young woman, hardly more than a girl, watched with frigid golden eyes as a pudgy silhouette of a man on a horse detached itself from the shadow of the city walls and made his way swiftly across the sand.

She was seated atop a magnificent black stallion that pawed impatiently at the ground. Perched on her shoulder was a salmon pink and pumpkin orange parrot.

"You..." said the woman, sneering down at the man that swung down from his beast and approached her, "…are late."

The pudgy man bowed deeply. His beady black eyes skirted from left to right and he refused to meet her gaze.

"A thousand apologies, oh patient one."

"Do you at least have what I sent you for?" demanded the woman with a long-suffering sigh.

"I had to slit a few throats to get it. So much trouble for such a little bauble," said the pudgy man.

He reached into his robes and pulled out an odd, misshapen bit of gold, holding it up so that the woman could see that it was indeed the trinket she had commissioned him to steal.

The woman's eyes lit with unholy glee when she saw it and she reached out an imperious hand.

The pudgy man yanked the trinket back to his chest with a sly expression and the woman narrowed her golden eyes.

"Such impudence," she hissed.

"My Lady, you of all people should know better," he admonished her with a leering grin, "Payment first. Where is my treasure?"

The parrot immediately swooped down off the woman's shoulder and snatched the little bit of gold from the pudgy man's filthy hands with an affronted squawk. He deposited the bauble into his mistress' outstretched hand before resettling himself on her shoulder, glaring balefully at the thief.

The pudgy man scowled as the woman polished her prize on the front of her robes until it gleamed in the light of the moon.

"Not to worry, akuma scum, you will get what is coming to you."

"What's coming to you! Lero!" called the parrot mockingly.

Almost reverently the woman pulled another oddly shaped bit of gold, almost identical to the first, from the inner pocket of her robes and as if by magic or magnetism the two pieces came together to form the shape of a small golden beetle. It hovered in the air and began to glow blue. Wings appeared at its back and all of a sudden it streaked away, leaving a trail of burning gold in the night sky that led deeper into the desert.

"Quickly! Follow the trail!" cried the woman spurring her antsy mount into a gallop after the insect.

The akuma was quick to scramble up onto his own horse and whip it into following after them. Further and further into the desert they rode until the lights of Agrabah were far behind them. Then, just as suddenly as it had taken off the insect medallion stopped, glowing like a beacon over a large sand dune for a long moment before splitting into its two halves and plunging into the dune, still glowing brightly.

The horses reared, whinnying and dancing under their riders. The woman kept her seat but the thief went flying in short order, his horse fleeing into the night.

Before their eyes the sand dune shifted and grew until it formed the head of a lion the two pieces of the medallion serving as its glowing, fearsome eyes. It opened its great maw to reveal a passageway and a descending set of stairs lit from the inside by magic and flickering torches.

The woman let out a joyous cackle the hood of her robes falling back to reveal the midnight blue of her hair, the grey-tinged pallor of her skin and the tattoos of the god-touched on her forehead.

"At last! After all my years of searching! The cave of wonders," she crowed triumphantly.

"Cave of wonders. Lero," parroted the bird on her shoulder.

The akuma thief knelt dumbstruck in the sand, black eyes round, barely able to believe what he was seeing.

"By Allah," murmured the pudgy man, practically salivating.

Everyone who hunted for riches knew the tales of the cave of wonders, a hidden trove, bursting at the seams with the ill-gotten gains of a demented sorcerer who lived ten thousand years ago known only as the Lord Millennium. He was on his feet and had taken two steps forward before he realized what he'd been doing.

"Now remember," warned the woman, "Bring me the lamp! The rest of the treasure is yours but the lamp is mine!"

"The lamp!" squawked the parrot, "The lamp! Lero!" then more quietly, "Mistress Road, just where did you dig up this bozo— Lero?"

The thief was chuckling and wringing his hands, greed lighting his beady black eyes as he approached the mouth of the cave.

"Who disturbs my slumber?" demanded the sand-lion in a voice like thunder.

The pudgy thief froze for a moment before bowing low and declaring tentatively, "I am but a humble thief, one of many who call themselves akuma."

"Know this," rumbled the sand-lion, "Only one may enter here. One whose worth lies far within. A diamond in the rough."

That gave the akuma pause and he turned to look back at Road. Still sitting tall on her horse, her mouth twisted into an awful grin.

"What are you waiting for? If there was ever a man whose worth lay far within, it would be you akuma!"

Reassured despite the woman's jeering tone the thief inched forward until he was standing just to one side of the jagged row of stalagmites that formed the sand-lion's teeth. Just beyond were the stairs. Hesitantly the thief stuck out one slippered foot and pressed it gently to the top step.

When nothing happened he grinned in relief and hopped over the barrier dashing down the stairs towards the treasures of legend. The sand-lion roared, loud and terrible.

"Unworthy!" it rumbled and the great maw snapped shut on the akuma's panicked expression.

An unnatural wind kicked up and the sand-lion began to sink back into the sand until it was once again little more than a dune with two glowing pinpricks to denote eyes.

"Seek thee out, the diamond in the rough," came the final guttural instruction as the pinpricks of light winked out and the two halves of the medallion rolled down the steep slope of the sand dune.

The parrot launched itself from Road's shoulder and retrieved the two bits of, now un-extraordinary, metal for his mistress. For her part Road snatched them from the air and tucked them back into her robes in separate pockets, her expression dark but contemplative.

"I can't believe it! I just don't believe it! Lero!" cawed the parrot angrily, "We're never gonna get a hold of that stupid lamp! Look at this! Look at this! I'm so ticked off that I'm molting! Lero!"

Indeed when he ruffled his ragged orange plumage a few feathers fell to settle in the sand, the desert now still and quiet.

"Patience Lero. Patience. The akuma have their uses but they are clearly less than worthy."

"Well there's a big surprise! Lero!" said Lero, settling back on Road's shoulder, his grating voice practically dripping with sarcasm, "I think I'm about to have a heart-attack and die from not surprised! Lero! What're we going to do? We've got a problem! A big problem! Ler—"

Road reached up and cruelly clamped his beak shut with strength and malice that no girl her size should possess to put a stop to his squawking.

"We do indeed have a problem. Only one may enter," she pouted looking out over the dune that concealed the cave of wonders, "I must find this one. This…diamond in the rough."

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**AN: **So hi I'm Berry! Nice to meet you, and thanks for reading. Um this is my first time writing this style of fic and in this fandom but I know there are a few pieces with the same idea out there, hopefully this turns out to be original and interesting.

In any case drop me a review on the way out! I really appreciate any constructive comments or criticisms or just plain I liked its!

-Berry


	2. Chapter One: The Street Rat

**Diamond in the Rough**

**Chapter One: The Street Rat**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Aladdin or D. Gray-man.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks to everyone who took the time to review, alert and/or fave! Now on to the story!

* * *

Allen sat cross-legged in the shade of an awning grinning unrepentantly at the three scowling miners in front of him.

"And that, gentlemen, is a royal straight flush—in diamonds."

"That's not possible!" cried one.

"You're a cheating little shit!" said another.

"Can you prove it?" asked Allen sweetly, gathering up his meagre winnings, including the loaf of bread that would serve for breakfast, in one lightning quick motion.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Allen had been cheating. Allen always cheated. He needed to eat after all and between that and paying off his master's debts he couldn't afford to lose at cards, ever. No one had ever been able to prove he was cheating, however, even when he stripped them of their earnings week after week. The smart ones learned not to challenge him, the dumb ones kept on getting robbed.

"I'll have your hands for a trophy street-rat!" growled one such idiot.

The gap-toothed idiot was one of the city guards and really Allen should have known better then to fleece him, should have exercised some restraint, but he'd been desperate at the time and Fazik had been an all around easy mark. Now the muscle-bound block-head was gunning for him and he was of high enough ranking in the guards that he could afford to pursue his quest for petty vengence.

Allen groaned and turned to one of his regular opponents.

"You called the guards on me Tyki?" he pouted.

The curly-haired miner shrugged laconically taking a drag of his cigarette, "Times are tough. Nothing personal, shounen."

Allen grit his teeth on a number of curses and, without warning, vaulted over the low table right at the guards, kicking a leg out and taking down the pole that held up the awning. There was a sudden slew of shouting and cursing as the patchy length of cloth fell, blocking out vision and fouling up swords.

Allen ducked out in the confusion dashing up a flight of stairs, hopping the small gap between buildings and hauling himself up onto the higher roofs. Three or so of the guards followed him.

The guards were persistent, Allen would give them that much, but they should have known by now that the rooftops were his domain. They didn't have the knowledge, speed, or athleticism to catch him up here.

The bare wood and smooth whitewash was warm under his bare feet from the sun and if he weren't in danger of being arrested Allen might have even enjoyed the chase. As it was, he came to the end of the block where the relative continuity of the roofs was separated by a narrow street and, without pausing, jumped.

He caught one of the clotheslines on the way down and used it to swing himself onto an awning and roll harmlessly into the street, ignoring the angry cursing and waving fists of the vendor.

"You'll not get away so easily!" panted one of the guards from above.

"You think that was easy?" Allen shot back incredulously.

It had taken him forever to figure out how to execute that manoeuvre without snapping the clothesline, wrecking the laundry and collapsing the awning. Still, he wasn't about to stick around and debate the relative facility of acrobatics with the guard while his buddies circled around and got him cornered. He rounded the corner of the narrow street and found himself in a familiar residential area.

"Morning ladies," he greeted a familiar quartet of young wives with a bright practiced smile.

"Allen, where is your Master?"

"Master Cross?"

"Yes, where is Marian, he hasn't been around for ages," whined the fish-monger's youngest wife.

"We miss him," pouted one of the guard's own sisters.

"Ah, well," Allen said rubbing the back of his head, grinning sheepishly and biting back the tirade against his master.

The womanizing drunkard had vanished one evening a year and a half ago, after knocking him out with a hammer, and left him so deep in debt that he was reduced to cheating at cards, stealing from the merchant carts and rifling through trash for scraps.

"Getting into trouble a little early today aren't we Allen," commented the snake-charmer's wife, interrupting his dark thoughts.

"Trouble," he said mischievously, "You're only in trouble if you get caught!"

"Got you!" growled one of the guards as he grabbed Allen by his thin shoulder and whipped him around.

"I'm in trouble," he admitted.

The women drew their veils across their faces and melted away as if they'd never been. Allen couldn't really blame them, they were good women but their husbands and families would never condone them associating with sots like Marian Cross and his thieving street-rat apprentice.

"And this time—"

Luckily enough for Allen his faithful monkey friend, Timcanpy, chose that moment to leap down from the rooftops and onto the guard's head. Distracted the man loosened his grip and Allen was able to slip free.

"Perfect timing as always Tim," Allen said with a relieved grin as the monkey scampered up onto his shoulder, and taking off running, "Let's get out of here."

Unable to find another ladder or staircase Allen was forced into the main street of the marketplace.

The guards pursued him over wine barrels, dashing across hot coals and nails, bowling through glittering harems filled with glittering women, and scurrying up and down rickety scaffolding until finally Allen lost them by jumping out a window.

Allen and Timcanpy landed roughly but in better shape then the guards who'd tried to follow them on the other side of the stand for discount fertilizer and hopped over the low wall disappearing into the poorer warrens and back alleys of the city.

"You alright Tim?" Allen asked once he was reasonably sure they weren't being followed anymore.

He got a harried chattering scolding into his ear for the trouble.

"Like it's my fault!" Allen protested, "If it were up to me we would still be juggling on street corners and walking across tightropes for coins! Stupid Master. Stupid Tyki. C'mon we'd better go pay up before we get chased through the market again, this time by angry shopkeeps or lightskirts."

Allen slipped through the shadows cast by the tall crowded apartments, weaving through the back alleys where the women carried scimatars and glowered suspiciously and the children were rangy-limbed and hard-eyed, until he came to a hole in the wall that served some of the most expensive illegally smuggled alcohol in all of Agrabah. Of course expense didn't mean anything to Marian Cross except that the product was high quality, he was rarely the one paying after all. When he had money he was too free with it, when he had debt, which was always since any money he earned simply went to buying more wine, tabacco, clothes or women and not to paying off previous debts, he foisted it off on someone else. More often than not, that person was Allen.

Wordlessly his coins went to the owner of the illegal smuggling operation to finally settle yet another debt of Cross'.

When he left the shop, if it could really be called that, he noticed two young kids, a brother and sister pair, digging around through the trash. Allen's stomach grumbled pitifully, he had a ridiculously high metabolism and the last time he'd eaten had been yesterday morning but his heart was bigger than even his legendary stomach and his heart felt for the kids. He'd been like that not so long ago, when he was a little kid before Mana had taken him in, and again after Mana's death before Cross had gotten ahold of him. Scraping for food, stealing it where he could, though that was mostly too dangerous, sleeping hungry and cold in doorframes and being kicked for his trouble in the morning if he wasn't awake quickly enough.

Unlike him though, the little urchin girl had her younger brother to feed and look after, and they both looked like they hadn't eaten properly in ages. Carefully Allen approached them, the girl turned when she caught sight of his shadow on the wall and quickly shoved her brother behind her as if that would shield him from anyone truly determined to go through her. She glared at him with defiant brown eyes, though her hands were shaking and Allen could see a yellowing bruise across her cheekbone underneath all the grime.

"Hey, it's okay," he said trying to be soothing and giving a small smile.

Allen well knew that his appearence was off-putting but he was hoping that his offering would keep the two kids from turning tail and held out the bread and blanket both Tim scolding him roundly for his bleeding heart.

"Here you go," he said softly.

The boy smiled upat him shyly but the girl seemed confused and just blinked wide-suspicious eyes at him.

Allen broke off a small corner of the bread and popped it in his mouth.

"See? It's good, take it."

Hesitantly the girl took the bread, sniffing at it and licking the corner before breaking it in half, the bigger piece going to her brother Allen couldn't help but note with another small smile, and draped the blanket around her shoulders like a shawl.

The urchins, delighted by the gifts, gobbled the bread down immediately and laughing, chased each other back to the main road, Allen and the grumpy Tim following more slowly in their wake. Allen untied the ragged cloak he kept on hand from its place wrapped around his waist and used it to cover his hair and disfigured arm as they approached the main road and he heard the blaring of trumpets.

There was no sense making himself too visible with all the guards that were likely to be swarming around in the midst of a crowd like this, making sure the crowd didn't get to close to whatever glittering noble was proceeding up the main road.

They were not too far from the palace itself now, just outside the high gated walls that separated it from the city, and the whitewash and gold gleamed brightly in the setting sun.

Through the crowd Allen spotted a beautiful woman astride a proud white horse. Yellow haired and golden eyed she looked down her nose at everything.

"On her way to the palace I suppose," said the man on Allen's left.

"Another suitor for the prince," sighed the one to his right.

Allen pushed forward to get a better look, just in time to see the young urchins he'd been following burst through the crowd and run out in front of the lady, startling her horse and nearly sending her flying.

She regained her balance easily enough but the frightened children didn't have the sense to keep running and the woman's cool fine-featured face contorted into a mask of fury. She reached behind her on her saddle and uncurled a long cruel looking whip. Discarding his cloak Allen rushed forward.

"Filthy brats!" hissed the woman raising the whip.

Allen slid himself between the woman and the children, hissing as the leather of the whip stung the ruined flesh of his left arm and then tearing the weapon from the lady's hands and throwing it into the street.

"If I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners!" Allen spat at her angrily, behind him the urchins fled, melting back into the anonymity of the crowd and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll teach you some manners, boy!" snarled the woman and she kicked him in the face, leaving Allen to fall into the muck of the road.

The crowd laughed and Allen grit his teeth baring them in an unpleasant grin as the lady began to walk away.

"Well would you look at that, Tim, it's not every day you see a horse with two rear ends."

That bought him a cold look as the lady turned around for a brief moment.

"You are a worthless little street rat. You were born a street rat. You will die a street rat, and only your fleas will mourn you."

A hollow anger burned in Allen's chest at the woman's words and he clenched his hands into fists to keep from outright attacking her letting his long white bangs fall forward to conceal the bitterness his eyes. The woman trotted the last few yards through the palace gates, joining her entourage before they slammed shut with a dull finality.

With the show over, the crowd dispersed, leaving Allen more or less alone in the dirt.

"Allen."

Allen looked up as a pair of dainty slippers and the leg of a pair of gauzy pants came into view. It was Anita, one of Cross' women and the owner of a high-end brothel that Allen sometimes worked for cooking and cleaning for the ladies. She had his patched and filthy cloak in hand and draped around his shoulders in a motherly fashion.

"I'm not worthless," he told her fiercely, looking up, "And I don't have fleas!"

"Of course not," she agreedsoothingly, "Go home Allen, dear, I'll want you at my place bright and early tomorrow. If you're timely you can have some breakfast yourself before you start your duties."

Allen nodded and stood.

"C'mon Timcanpy, let's go home."

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**AN: **So there you have it, chapter one! Hope you all enjoyed!

For anyone who is interested in my "process" what I'm trying to explore in this fic is how two perfect strangers can realistically meet, have chemistry and develop feelings for each other in a single encounter, without really knowing anything about each other.

Anyway, next chappie has a bit of Kanda in it! *Cheering*

Please feel free to leave a review on your way out and let me know what you guys think!

-Berry

PS: Frequency of updates may vary, story alert function incredibly useful!


	3. Chapter Two: The Sultan's Dilema

**The Diamond in the Rough**

**Chapter Two: The Sultan's Dilemma**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own D. Gray-man or Aladdin. Any dialogue you recognize was transcribed from Disney's Aladdin movie and as such is not mine.

**Author's Note: **Thanks very much to everybody who took the time to review, alert, or fave this story! Hope you're all enjoying so far!

* * *

It was a lovely afternoon and the occupants of the palace had adjourned from a light lunch to enjoy the day in the gardens.

Sultan Tiedoll was absorbed in the task of painting a portrait of the lovely Princess Lenalee and her beloved brother, King Komui. The exotic siblings with their porcelain skin and almond eyes were delighted to pose for him and were sitting beneath a large tree dressed in the traditional clothing of their kingdom chatting with each other as they admired the flowers and fountains of the palace grounds.

The siblings had originally come from their own kingdom to see if the pretty Lenalee and his heir, Kanda, might make a match but it seemed that it was not meant to be. Though Kanda and the young princess got along rather well, all things considered, both Kanda and the overprotective Komui had rejected the idea of a wedding.

Tiedoll sighed as he mixed his paints, trying to find the precise shade of black-green that would matche Lenalee's lovely hair. The list of eligible princesses was growing alarmingly thin. Kanda had driven them off one by one with his anti-social tendencies and enormously bad temper. Even the most determined had not come even close to tempting the crowned prince.

It wasn't for a lack of trying. Allah above knew that Tiedoll had walked in on a number of compromising situations involving some of the princesses. Princess Klaud walking naked through the menagerie while Kanda happened to be feeding the birds, Princess Lou Fa waiting in Kanda's chambers dressed in only her eyeglasses, Princess Fou challenging the palace guards to a duel and having all her clothes sliced off while Kanda was practicing his swordsmanship nearby. Kanda hadn't even shown a flicker of interest. Not that Tiedoll had ever really thought his youngest would be charmed by a pretty face or figure. His son Daisya was a different story, of course, but his second child disappeared to parts unknown at the very mention of the word marriage, and more was the pity.

Tiedoll sighed again. If only one of his sons was even the slightest bit marriage-minded. He wouldn't be in this mess still if Daisya or Marie had agreed to marry before their twentieth birthdays. Now there was only Kanda and he was being forced not only to take on the duties of the heir but also take a wife and ensure the continuation of their line and rule. Kanda was, like his brothers before him, determined to remain unwed, law be damned, and his youngest son was also the least tractable.

Still, he had high hopes for Princess Lulubell, the young lady who had arrived yesterday evening. She was beyond lovely, cultured, demure, intelligent, and perhaps most importantly she was serene.

There was a sudden crash and an enraged shriek.

The sultan winced at the sudden disturbance of the formerly peaceful scene glancing down the path to his right in the direction he knew that Lulubell and Kanda had gone. He turned back to his subjects.

"Perhaps we'll pick this up again tomorrow, Komui, Princess?"

The siblings waved at him in agreement but remained under the willow tree engrossed in the view and their conversation.

There was another crash followed by an angry snarl, though whether it belonged to human or tiger was as of yet unclear.

Tiedoll felt his hopes dying a painful death and set aside his paintbrush, ready to try and sooth Princess Lulubell's inevitably ruffled feathers and perhaps prevent a diplomatic incident.

The woman in question rounded the corner in a spitting rage, not unlike a cat who'd just had its tail trodden on. The skirts of her fine gown were in shreds revealing long toned legs and wickedly spiked heeled shoes her long nails bit into the palms of her hands as she clenched them into fists and her golden eyes flashed with rage.

"I have never been so insulted!" she hissed.

"Oh, Princess Lulubell, you're not leaving so soon are you?" asked Tiedoll, more for to formality of the thing since she was clearly making a beeline for the stables.

"Good luck marrying him off!"

Tiedoll sighed and rubbed his head, he could feel a headache coming on. Reluctantly he got up off his painting stool and went to go and have a chat with his son.

"Yuu?" he called, when he couldn't see his son immediately, "Yuu?"

"What have I told you about calling me by my first name old man," growled the prince.

"I am your father, I named you Yuu and that is what I will call you, and I wish you would call me father at the very least," Tiedoll answered moving to join his son who was sitting cross-legged on the lip of the fountain, meditating.

"Tch."

There was a sudden snarled and a large tiger sprung out of the bushes near the fountain a long strip of silky fabric clenched in his teeth.

"Confound it, Mugen!" cried Tiedoll in exasperation, "So, this is why Princess Lulubell stormed out."

Kanda made a derisive noise, not bothering to open his eyes, "I don't know why you're so surprised, old man."

"Yuu," sighed the sultan plaintively, "You have got to stop rejecting every suitor that comes to call. The law says—"

"I know damn well what the law says," snapped Kanda opening his eyes to glare accusatorially at his father, "The law can kiss my ass because there's no way in hell I'm marrying any of these idiot women."

"You have to marry by your twentieth birthday, Yuu, I'm sorry you've been put in this position but unless you can prove that you intend to carry on the line I will be forced to name yet another heir. One from outside the family."

"So do it, no one's stopping you," said Kanda.

"I know, and it's causing me no end of grief, neither you, nor any of your brothers have ever considered that I am not supporting the laws on this matter to torment you, or to force you, or to pick the appropriate successor," Tiedoll said, desperate to make his son understand his fears, "I'm not going to be around forever and I just want to make sure the three of you are looked after, provided for."

"Stupid old man, we can take care of ourselves," Kanda scoffed dismissively.

Tiedoll sighed yet again, his shoulders slumping a bit.

"Yuu, I know that you and Daisya and Marie are all fine sons and good men, you're strong, capable and reasonably intelligent about most matters…you have to understand that I have nothing to offer any off you after I've gone. The throne has been in my family for generations, our home and everything in it belong to the sultan, not to our family."

Kanda remained silent.

"You have three more days, please, at least consider it."

Tiedoll left Kanda to meditate by the fountain. Hopefully, his son would come to see reason. Kanda didn't like to think that he put stock in material objects or even people but Tiedoll had watched his son grow from the belligerently brave child who demanded to be allowed to keep a tiger cub from a foreign kingdom to the foul-mouthed but oddly reserved prince he was today and he could safely say that he knew the boy as well as anyone could. He didn't realize it but it would pain Kanda to be separated from the memories the palace walls held when all was said and done. It would eat at his stoic youngest to be so far removed from a place where he was safe and loved though he would never admit it. He would soldier on. Ignoring the feelings, cutting himself off from the world until he was truly alone, truly miserable and convinced that he was better off that way.

Tiedoll made it to the throne room before the tears began to fall. With those awful thoughts and images fresh in his mind he sat himself down at his worktable shuffling through the exhaustive notes he'd made on every eligible maiden he knew of and resolved to redouble his efforts to find Kanda a bride. He would go crawling to Princess Lenalee on his hands and knees if that's what it took. He already had the bare necessities for a legal wedding arranged so he had until the stroke of midnight on the third day to find someone, anyone, who was willing to bind themself to his son. If the match proved less than ideal, well, that was what second and third wives were for anyway.

Envoys had been sent to far off kingdoms piled with gifts and enticements for any Princess or lady of sufficiently noble birth. Hopefully more would come before the time ran out.

"I don't know where they get it from, any of them," sighed Tiedoll setting his turban to one side and running a hand through his frizzy grey hair, "Their mothers weren't nearly so picky."

"My liege?"

Tiedoll looked up from his papers and smiled.

"Ah, Road, my most trusted advisor, I am in desperate need of your guidance."

"I will of course aid you in any way that I can, Majesty, I live only to serve you," said Road with a demure bow.

Members of the local nobility had called him mad when he'd appointed the young priestess of the royal temple to the lofty position of royal vizier but he'd never regretted it. Road was clever, shrewd, and wise beyond her years, unflinchingly loyal and she was god-touched, she knew many things she couldn't have known and she had proven herself worthy a hundred times over. If she was a little young it was all the better for his sons would have an experienced advisor with them for many years…provided he could get Kanda married in three days.

"What troubles you, your majesty?" asked Road gliding across the room her jewelled staff in hand and her beautiful bird, Lero, perched on her shoulder.

"It's this suitor business, of course, what else would it be? Kanda still refuses to choose or even entertain the notion of choosing a bride. I'm at my wit's-end!"

"Wit's-end, Lero!" squawked the parrot.

Tiedoll grinned and reached into his pockets for the crackers he kept on hand especially for the darling Lero.

"Have a cracker pretty darling, there you are!" he said with a delighted smile as Lero was forced to take the cracker and attempt to choke it down.

"Your majesty certainly has a way with him," said Road graciously a soft smile touching her lips, "Say thank you Lero."

"Thank you. Lero," parroted Lero with a murderous gleam in his eye.

"Now perhaps it is simply that Prince Kanda has not yet found a lady for whom his affections could be engaged. I could, if your majesty wishes it, perhaps divine a solution to this thorny problem."

Tiedoll blinked a bit startled at Road's straightforwardness. They never directly mentioned her gifts when discussing matters of state and it was always an unspoken understanding that if there was something that Road could glean using her unique abilities then she would report it to him and he would, likewise, not inquire as to how she had come by the information.

"You mean to say you can find a suitable Princess, one that would, as you say, engage his affections?" he asked cautiously.

Road gave him a serious look, "It will not be a simple matter. Matters of the heart are, as you are aware, never simple."

"If it can be done safely, please Road, I beg of you, do it."

The young priestess nodded.

"I knew that you would want me to do this which it why I have come to beg the use of the mystic blue diamond to aid me in my search."

"My ring?" queried Tiedoll uncertainly, twisting the ring around his finger, it had been a gift from his mother and he was inordinately fond of the little gem, "It has been in the family for generations…I just…"

Tiedoll broke off glancing up automatically as Road rapped her staff on the marble of the floor with a harsh clack. Immediately he was entranced by the glow of the orange gem at its top, hypnotised by the flicker of non-existent candlelight.

"It is necessary if I am to find the prince a suitor. Do not worry. Everything will be fine."

"Everything…will…be…fine," agreed Tiedoll slowly his eyes still fixed on the glow of the staff.

"The diamond?"

The sultan twisted the ring off of his little finger and without tearing his gaze away from the staff handed Road the ring.

"Whatever you…need…Road."

"You are most gracious my liege," said Road tucking the ring away in her robes as the flickering light of her hypnotization spell faded from the room.

Tiedoll's eyes were still dazed and unfocused and he moved as if in a dream, but that would soon pass.

"Why don't you take a rest now, your majesty, and paint something lovely."

"Yes…" agreed the sultan sitting down at his work bench and taking out a small set of paints, "That would be…pretty good…candles…maybe."

Road left him to it a triumphant grin crossing her features as she strode from the room the skirts of her robes billowing out behind her.

"That was almost too easy," she commented to Lero as soon as they were out of earshot, "The old fool's mind is becoming more vulnerable to my enchantments."

"I can't take it anymore! Lero! If I have to choke down one more of those stale, disgusting crackers I'm gonna—"

"Calm yourself Lero. Soon I will be queen, not that addlepated twit," Road said and with a wave of her hand a full wall of the palace shifted aside to reveal a hidden cobblestone staircase leading up to the hidden tower.

"Very soon, the ultimate power will be mine."

* * *

**AN: **And there you have it. Kanda makes a brief but poignant appearence and we hear Tiedoll's thoughts on the matter.

To try and clarify where this is going, since I've had some comments in reviews, I'm going to stick to the skeleton stucture of the Aladdin movie for a number of the chapters (those will probably be the fastest updates) but there will also be a number of chapters that diverge from the original plotline (like the next one if all goes well). Also the romance is, necessarily given the time crunch involved, going to be pretty fast paced. I'm going to try and create believably intense feelings within the alotted time frame. There will almost certainly be smut (note the rating not for the kiddies!).

Hope that helps clear things up!

Please feel free to review or PM and let me know what you guys think. Love hearing from you, and love concrit even more, especially at the level of characterization since this is my first time playing in D. Gray-man's sandbox.

Til next time!

- Berry


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